Tabs

Do we really need a new City Hall in San Juan Capistrano? According to Mayor Uso, the current location is “toxic” and he “will not leave our employees in that mess one minute more than I have to.” However, a recent tour of the facility by residents and professional tradesmen proves that those stating the “need” for a new City Hall are stuck in the spin zone.

§ San Juan resident John Perry kicks things off with an Open Letter to the San Juan City Council and City Manager Joe Tait concerning runaway costs at the City water operations:

At the February 2, 2010 Public Hearing, the City Council sat stoically as residents berated their decision to increase domestic water rates by 78 percent over the next 8 years. Although questions were asked of the City Council by public speakers, no answers were forthcoming from our elected officials or the City’s staffers. So it is time to ask some hard questions again:

Since no Council member questioned my calculation that it cost the water rate payers of San Juan Capistrano $196,915 in the month of December 2009 to be water self-sufficient, can I assume that this has been going on since the Ground Water Recovery Plant (GWRP) was opened in 2004?

The GWRP has been in operation for 55 months through December 2009. If we use the base figure of $196,000 per month, the cost of self-sufficiency totals $10,700,000. Can this really be true? If not how much extra did it cost the City to make water instead of buying MWD water? Please have Cindy Russell do the calculation.

Hello everybody and welcome to the inaugural issue of “Capistrano Common Sense”. This publication is a joint venture of local residents who share concerns about the issues facing our city, San Juan Capistrano. We hope to bring a “grass roots” perspective to you the in the hopes that you will gain a better understanding of what is going on around you. We strive to present what might be best described as a “constitutional conservative” or a “fiscal conservative” point of view.

The name of our publication is obviously taken from our own nation’s history, from a series of writings known as “Common Sense”, written by Thomas Paine in 1776. He was advocating independence from the tyrannical British government. Due in part to his thinking and writing, the American Revolution came to pass. Probably the most famous line written in that pamphlet was “These are the times that try men’s souls”.

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Welcome to the Community Common Sense!

The CCS is a non-partisan community watchdog publication distributed to homes and businesses in the city of San Juan Capistrano.

The CCS was established in San Juan Capistrano in 2009 by a group of residents who recognized that our money was often spent in ways that enriched a select few, while residents were left with the resulting increases to cost of living, traffic and debt.

We believe knowledge is power. Aided by Public Records Act requests for information and extensive research, we print fact-based information about these and other issues which enables residents to make educated decisions about local leadership. We do the homework – you decide!

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Capistrano City Hall Compensation

With high unemployment levels and with our City's debt at over $100 million, reigning in City costs is more important than ever. In a recent CCS article, we published a detailed list of City Hall compensation and benefit expenses by position and employee. You can view the details yourself and decide whether you think this is a good use of scarce taxpayer dollars.